Vancouver swapping out coin parking meters for modern pay stations in $14M project - Action News
Home WebMail Wednesday, November 13, 2024, 03:02 AM | Calgary | -1.0°C | Regions Advertise Login | Our platform is in maintenance mode. Some URLs may not be available. |
British Columbia

Vancouver swapping out coin parking meters for modern pay stations in $14M project

More than 11,000 parking meters are already in the process of being replaced with pay stations that accept coins, cards and payments by mobile phone andthey aren't as easy to vandalize, a city director says.

Project to replace more than 11,000 meters is already underway

New pay stations, like the one seen in this photo in downtown Vancouver, are currently being installed to replace older coin meters. According to city staff, the new machines are harder for vandals to tamper with and will give customers more payment options. (Amy Bell/CBC News)

Many a Vancouver driverhaspulled up to a parking meter only to find it out of service or rigged by vandals trying to steal coins and nowthe city hopes to reduce that hassle by investing millions in new pay stations.

More than 11,000 parking meters are already in the process of being replaced at a cost of$14 million, according to Paul Storer, director of transportation for the city.

No longer will there be meters at every parking spot and while drivers may have to walk a bit further to plug the machine, Storer says the extra few steps will be worth it.

While some of the old meters only take change, the new stations will accept coins, cards and payments by mobile phone,Storer said, andthey are not as easy to vandalize.

He said city staff field many calls from people who have dropped money into the older meters, only to have the payment notregister.

Thisis often because someone has jammed the machine by snaking a homemade chain or string into the coin slot to block coins from landing in the holding chamber.

A City of Vancouver parking enforcement officer checks a vehicle in downtown Vancouver in 2018. That year, an estimated $600,000 in parking revenue was lost to thieves who rigged up old coin meters. (Rafferty Baker/CBC)

After the frustrated parker moves on, the thief returns and usesmagnets or a homemade device to fish out the coins.

"These are going to be a lot harder to tamper with," said Storer about the new pay stations.

Storer said the replacement machines have technology that will alert staff when they are broken so responding to any issues can be done faster.

Also, he said, the old machines have simply "reached the end of their life" and finding equipment to repair them has become a challenge.

The City of Vancouver collects, on average, about $60 million annually in parking revenue, according to Storer.

He said parking prices will stay the same with the new machines, with the possible exception of increased pricing during special events in the future.

With files from The Early Edition